Some Actors Have Incredible Range.
The place in some family photos was a mystery for 50 years, but a Mefite solved it in 37 minutes. This demonstrates the magic of the internet when it is used to help someone.
The Most Popular Cat Name in Every U.S. State Has Been Revealed. (via Nag on the Lake)
Stained glass window shows Jesus Christ with dark skin, stirring questions about race in New England. (via Fark)
A Collection of artful and Terrifying Dutch Safety Posters. And more here. (via Kottke)
FluCamp, for People Who Catch a Virus on Purpose.
The Best Picket Signs Ever are from the Writer's Strike.
End of a love affair: AM radio is being removed from many cars. This could be the death of local broadcasting. (via Metafilter)
Geting rid of AM in vehicles is not a good idea. There are many areas where there is little to no FM or cell coverage and the only reliable source of info/entertainment on long drives are AM stations. Satellite coverage may eventually help but it is a ways off and costs money. Radio is free and not everyone lives in or near a city.
ReplyDeleteAnother part of this is pure greed. There are plans to eventually only allow manufaturer supplied feeds by subscription in vehicles. Those CEO yachts don't pay for themselves.
^^This. Many States also use AM frequencies for weather, traffic, and construction alerts. And, in the event of a regional, or national emergency, it's possible AM will be all you have for communications. Greed + ignorance.
ReplyDeleteIf California can demand automakers who wish to sell in their state have better emissions, then some redneck state can demand automakers have AM radio to sell there.
ReplyDeleteWithout listeners in cars advertisers will walk away and AM stations will fold. This will be a chance for the Big Bucks Boys who contribute billions to buy politicians, to snap up these stations cheap. Using prerecorded right wing messages shared by all the stations, and one or two call in 800 numbers to keep the pot stirred, they'll control the only mass communication/information when the shit hits the fan.
ReplyDeleteWorst case scenario? Wild imagination?
They didn't get big bucks overlooking potential.
Considering what most AM radio stations broadcast, losing only that would almost be a blessing. If those stations want to continue operating, they could always move to the FM band. If you still want entertainment, you can always download music to your phone and use that (or a separate MP3/CD player through the AUX port). Or just get a portable AM radio. It's not like there aren't any other choices here.
ReplyDeleteIt's not just greed that's driving this: "Automakers, such as BMW, Volkswagen, Mazda and Tesla, are removing AM radios from new electric vehicles because electric engines can interfere with the sound of AM stations."
The Great State of South Dakota demands 8-track!
ReplyDeleteThere's always other choices, but they all cost money and most of them are not a good way for emergency notifications.
ReplyDeleteWhile you're grooving along to Meatloaf or Chopin, you don't know a herd of Dinosaurs has been rampaging just over the next hill.
If you're not listening to the AM band anyway, you're not going to get an emergency notification regardless. Most people already have cell phones, and most of those do get emergency notifications, like Amber Alerts, and you don't have to have your phone on or be using a specific app to get it. There's nothing stopping the government from using that technology to send alerts instead of (or in addition to) AM, and not every emergency applies only to people in their car.
ReplyDeleteSome anonymous doofus says, "They can always move to the FM band." The FM band is a limited spectrum, and there are only so many frequencies available. You take a medium-sized city like Milwaukee (population around a half-million) and the surrounding area, you've got a population of around a million and a half people spread out over three counties. I don't know how many stations there are in this entire area, but Milwaukee alone has almost 80 stations broadcasting (both AM and FM) now as it is. And he thinks you can crowd all these stations into a spectrum that covers only 20 MHz (megahertz or, for old-timers, megacycles) between 88.0 and 108.0 MHz? Now add FM stations from other areas – in Wisconsin, there's an oldies station on the FM band based in Madison that can be heard pretty much anywhere along the I-90/I94 corridor from Tomah WI on the west to, well, Milwaukee, Racine, and Kenosha on the shores of Lake Michigan. You talk about a tangled mess of frequencies crossing over and 'bleeding' into one another? What he suggests would make the Gordian Knot look like a single strand of fishing line in comparison.
ReplyDeleteI already depend on custom audio vendors/installers to retrofit a different radio than what came with my vehicle into the dash so I can still play CDs and cassette tapes. I predict that so long as (1) AM radio continues to be broadcast and (2) Ford et al persist in this cockamamie idea to eliminate AM radios (and probably FM too, for all I know) in their vehicles in the future, these aftermarket installers are going to need extra help to handle all the people that will be coming to them.
-"BB"-
Interesting discussion between those who understand the value of AM and those who don't. Wonder what the age gap is?
ReplyDelete